


Little Talks

by Auraspirit157



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Banter, F/M, Gen, I Blame Tumblr, Rare Pairings, Written in Class, listen they need more love okay?, probably just a one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 22:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6489655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auraspirit157/pseuds/Auraspirit157
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you just need a little conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Talks

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a product of a late night of pondering in which I realized that there isn't enough VaughnxSasha in the world. As a result, here is a nice steaming pan of Vasha-Lasagna for you all, freshly baked. Bon appetit.

Vaughn wasn’t surprised that he was having more nightmares lately.

Not because they had been a problem before, but because his life has been a nightmare lately. It only made sense that such an outlook would follow him into sleep. So when he jerks away in the caravan, only a tiny gasp escapes him, then a quiet groan. Figures. He can’t catch a break even in dreams. 

There was several seconds taken before he decided he wouldn’t be getting back to sleep any time soon. He sat up, annoyed with both himself and his brain for being absolute dicks to him. The caravan was quiet, first time in a while, still rumbling from movement. They had decided before the trip even began that they wouldn’t stop driving, save for gas and repairs. As a result the driver had been switching out every few hours respectively, the current one being Sasha. 

It was actually nice to see everyone getting some sleep. He wasn’t the only one having issues with it. Even Athena was managing it, though he wasn’t sure if it was sleep or just an extended period of time with her eyes closed. The woman was so stiff that he swore if a fly landed on her she’d be up and ready to fight.

The Hyperion accountant looked up to the front of the caravan. Sasha hadn’t noticed he was awake yet. He looked down at the watch he procured from the Atlas facility. 1 a.m. Sasha had been driving for close to three hours. 

He let out a little breath and rose from the curved red couch. He had been missing his bed back on Helios, but having a comfortable place to sleep was the least of his problems. Stepping over the sleeping occupants, he had almost soundlessly made his way up to the driver’s seat. Till he kicked a spare scrap of metal Rhys had been using to fix Dumpy. 

No one woke up from the noise, but Sasha turned immediately. Her green eyes narrowed with suspicion, effectively getting a look of dread to pass over Vaughn’s face. Though that usually didn’t take much prompting. 

“What are you doing?” She asked, “Are you trying to scare me?” She always managed to sound like she was accusing him of something.

“Of course not,” he said, keeping his voice low, “I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to wake anyone.” 

Her eyes stayed narrowed even after she turns back around, “Well…don’t scare me like that.” 

It was with a tone that was meant to end their interaction. His shoulders slumped, biting his lip. He muttered under his breath something about being surprised that he could scare her at all, finishing his path up beside the driver’s seat. He sat on the railing around the risen platform. Before long Sasha glanced at him again, “Do you need something?” 

He bit his lip, “I can drive for a little while if you want. I’m not that tired.” 

She scoffed, “Yeah, you are, you have dark circles under your eyes.” She said while turning back to look at the road, “If I let you drive you’ll fall asleep and crash the caravan and we’ll have to find another way to get to wherever we’re going.” 

“That’s a little much isn’t it? I can actually stay awake if I need to.”

“Maybe, but I’m not taking that chance.”

“So…if you have dark circles under your eyes it’s different?”

The Pandoran turned again, narrowed eyes only partially softening, “Shut up, I’m not that tired.” 

He scoffs, “Yeah, you are, you have dark circles under your eyes.” He was entirely aware of his repetition, “If I let you drive you’ll fall asleep and crash the caravan and we’ll have to find another way—“

“Oh okay, since when are you being an asshole?” 

“I’m not being an asshole I’m just saying we’re both tired.” 

Their whispers had heightened in bitterness, hissing out their words. They both sat quietly after that. The rumbling of the caravan filled the silence for the minutes it was held. Vaughn was scowling, hands gripping the railing he sat on, at some point idly pushing up his glasses as if they were in any danger of falling off. 

He nearly fell from where he sat when the vehicle came to a stop. Sasha’s rise from her seat was abrupt, sweeping up her SMG.

“I’m going for a walk,” she said, “don’t follow me.”

It was safe to say he agitated her. Vaughn huffed out a breath, trying to maintain some bitterness but found he felt bad. It was easy to snap at each other in the situation they were in. He found some percentage of his worry for her was because of the potential rise in the chances of her shooting him. From this fear he chose not to follow her. 

He attempted to fall back asleep, failing horribly. He looked at his watch again. 1:30 a.m. 

Nighttime had a funny way of lighting up anxiety, it seemed, as he now started to fear Sasha not returning. He would definitely get blamed for that. The motivation of not meeting an early death kicked him into gear more often then he wanted.  
He walked to the door, opened it as quietly as he could, looking out at the Pandoran desert. Thankfully, Sasha hadn’t walked far, or maybe she did. At the present time she was sitting on a set of rocks with fallen shoulders and her chin in her hand. 

There’s another few seconds of standing in the doorway before he stepped off to approach her, akin to agitating a sleeping tiger in Vaughn’s mind. Perhaps he didn’t want to completely submit to the idea that he was genuinely concerned for her. There was too much tension between every person in that caravan to be concerned with anyone’s safety. 

He stopped before the rocks, realizing he was doing the same thing he had done before. He bit his lip again, calling up to her, “Sasha? Are you alright?” 

She turned and scowled at him, making him wince and wring his fingers together. To his surprise her eyes softened a little, only to harden again as she swings back around. 

“I told you not to follow me.”

“Yeah well, if you got eaten my those dog…things—“ 

“Skags. They’re called skags, Vaughn.” She rolled her eyes, “Hyperions…” 

It was at that moment he thought about leaving her alone. But that part of him that was genuinely concerned made him climb up the rest of the way to drop down beside her. 

She didn’t look at him this time, “Why are you still here?”

“Trust me, I don’t want to be.” The bitterness was still in his voice, aware of it, eliminating it from his next words, “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

“Aw, are you worried about me?” She scoffed, “That’s surprising since all you worry about is yourselves.” 

“You guys aren’t exactly the paragons of humbleness,” He was scowling again, “It’s hard to be genuine when no one friggin believes you.” 

“And why do you think that is? You’re Hyperion. Everyone who works for Hyperion is an asshole. They wreaked this planet and keep wreaking it even after Jack got killed.” 

She looked at him now, “I already had this conversation with Rhys.”

Another silence. He was getting sick of those. He wanted to say that her argument was stupid, but it really wasn’t. Hyperion had an abysmal reputation on Pandora, so the mistrust was valid. Yet he felt at this point Sasha should at least trust them enough to be able to have a conversation. 

“Why do you care anyway?”  
Some rather embarrassing noise of fright left him, Sasha having punched his shoulder lightly, “Uh…what?” 

“I’m asking why you came out here.” She had that ‘I’m suspicious’ look again, but it wavered on the line between that and curiosity, “I wasn’t exactly nice to you.” 

“I’m kind of used to people calling me an asshole Sasha,” the slightest tug at his lips almost turns into a smile, “All Hyperions are assholes, remember?” 

She seemed impressed; “There’s a lot more sass in you at 2 a.m.” 

His laugh was nervous, “Glad you think that because I’m actually…terrified and dreading…literally everything.” He set his chin on his knees, hugging them as well, “Everything on this planet is horrifying.” 

Horrifying in that at every turn he thought he was going to meet another cruel, unusual way to get absolutely slaughtered. He envied Rhys’ ability to at least sort of keep his composure. That’s what made him a leader on Helios. It was nearly impossible for Vaughn to hide his emotions, especially when he was scared. You wear your heart on your sleeve, was what his mother said, to make it sound a lot less lame. 

Sasha gasped dramatically, “Oh now I’m horrifying? I’m hurt, right here.” She tapped over her heart with her hand. He couldn’t decide if she was joking or not.

“N-No! I mean…I said every thing not…every one. You’re a human that’s…not overtly trying to kill me all the time so I—“ Her expression wouldn’t change, making him bite his lip again, “Okay when I try to be nice, you don’t trust me, when I say something negative, you’re pissed. Which is it?” 

The question seemed to actually glean some contemplation from the woman. She leaned back on her hands, looking up at the stars with something of a thoughtful frown. 

She finally spoke again after what seemed like too long, “I guess you’re not…the worst person we could have been stuck with.” She looked from the sky to him again, “You never answered my question. Why’d you come out here?” 

Why did he? Sasha could protect herself and several others easily on her own. If Vaughn had just went back to sleep, she would have returned without much problem. He couldn’t blame it on a lack of sleep, or malicious intentions. The only reason he was even still on the caravan was because of Rhys. 

He realized he was taking a while to answer and lifted his head from his knees, “I told you, I wanted to make sure you were alright.” 

She scoffed, “I can protect myself.” 

“That’s not what I meant. I wanted to make sure you were alright mentally,” he set his chin on his knees again, “And to apologize for…agitating you, I guess.” 

For a moment he thought she was indifferent on the response, or was going to say it was a lie. At least, she looked as though she was scanning for deception. She must’ve not found any, as he eyes soften a little, something Vaughn didn’t see to often. 

“Well um…” She said, “…thanks I…yeah I was kind of annoyed but I didn’t help to keep you from being a sarcastic ass.” 

Silence. Again. 

“…Look,” Sasha was the first to speak again, “I’m just…everything’s kind of a mess right now, and if there’s anything I learned from this planet, it’s not to ever put your guard down, not for anything. I still think Hyperion is the worst thing to ever exist in the universe, but that doesn’t mean you are the worst thing to ever exist in the universe, you get it?”

Vaughn blinked, then sat up a little, setting hands on the rocks behind him and stretching out legs, “I feel the same way just…vice versa.” He looked up at the stars, at Helios, “Everyone up there just talks about what a shithole Pandora is, and I don’t completely disagree with them but that doesn’t mean everyone here are monsters. You girls are just…doing what you need to in order to survive, I get it.” 

“How would you?” She was apprehensive of him comparing their lives, “Seems pretty cushy up on that fancy tin can.” 

“Believe it or not, it’s not exactly an easy life up there either.” His words came out roughly, “Rhys told you the same thing, I know, I’m just confirming it. We don’t have to deal with murderous animals or bandits but…it’s still a ’tin can’ full of a bunch of assholes that would gladly step on your face on the way up the corporate ladder.” 

“…Neither of us can really understand what each other have been through, I know, but it doesn’t mean either of us had to take less chances then the other. I’m just happy I’ve lived this long.” He tried to lighten what he’s saying, “Pandora really isn’t that bad either. I’ve had a better time here then I’ve had since I was a kid, if you can believe it.” 

It was at this point he saw the contemplation on her face once again. He was looking at her looking at the stars, everything beyond them.

“Eh, I guess you’re right.” The answer was so short and sudden it surprised him, her turning to give a small smile, “And I guess Hyperion makes some pretty cool tech and weapons. I’m thinking about stealing that shock rod from Rhys.” 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” He smiled back, “I think he needs it a lot more then you do. Maybe you’ll fine one in the Vault.” 

She laughed at that, “Vaughn, at this point I’m hoping to find a lot more then a shock stick in that Vault. Like enough money to afford actual food…but mostly guns. Oh my god, my hands are shaking thinking of the guns! You think there will be an Infinity pistol? Oh! What about the Desolator, you think that will be in there?” 

She had started to list off all the guns she was hoping to discover, Vaughn finding himself not interrupting. The subject had effectively changed, and he was adding in his own wishes. The sniper rifle he wanted, enough money to blast off to Eden-6 or Aquator, maybe some sweet shields, Eridium. It wasn’t even limited to that. Some Vaults were said to contain ancient alien tech and riches. Even if he was scared out of his mind, he was excited too. 

The conversation shifted a couple times, from Vaults to Pandora, from Pandora to little anecdotes that were lax enough to reference. He wasn’t sure how it got to that point, or long they had been talking. He only remembers at some point interrupting with a yawn. 

Sasha was in the middle of telling a story, fading out of it, smirking, “You tired?”

He yawns again before he can answer, “…Yeah.” He looks at his watch. Nearly 3 a.m., “Guess we should get moving again.” 

“Guess we should.” She’s already standing, about to climb down, then turning, offering her hand to him. 

With some small amount of surprise, he took it, hopping up to his feet. She didn’t stick around, jumping down from rocks with ease. Vaughn had to take a much more cautious route, still falling on his back after his foot slipped. He had to scramble to the door, Sasha standing there slowly closing it like a bullying older sister. He makes a leap and squeezes through the small crack in the door she left. 

She has a lingering smile on her face, now whispering, “You’re so small,” she pats his head, “Are you going to sleep now or do I have to knock you out?” 

He scowls, crossing his arms, “First of all—“ 

“I’m joking,” she laughed quietly, “Just go to sleep, before they find out we’ve been at a standstill for an hour and a half.” 

The accountant scoffed, plopping back where he had originally been sleeping. Sasha made her way back to the driver’s seat. He scoots to lie on his back, arm slung over his chest and closing his eyes. 

“…Vaughn?” 

He opens his eyes again, looking up at Sasha’s, “Yeah?” 

“…Thanks.” She said, then quickly followed, “For not being a dick.”  
His mouth twitched, but he was not quite sure how he’s supposed to respond to that, “You’re welcome?” 

“Yes, your welcome,” She punched his shoulder a little too hard, at the driver’s seat before he can retort. He turned to the side, making his hands a pillow, his eyelids heavy. 

He was surprised he had no nightmares that night.


End file.
